


House Haunted

by hollyand



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fic or Treat Meme, Ficlet, Halloween Gift Exchange, Haunted Houses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 06:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21239879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyand/pseuds/hollyand
Summary: Agreeing to accompany Hawke and Varric to investigate Bartrand’s haunted mansion was, Isabela thought, a huge mistake.Written for theFic-or-Treat2019 Halloween gift exchange forelveny, featuring her Adriene Hawke.





	House Haunted

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elveny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elveny/gifts).

> ‘Why,’ grumbled Isabela, ‘do I let you talk me into these things?’

The way Adriene Hawke looked at her, blue-green eyes fearful, seemed to indicate she was asking herself the same thing. It had seemed so simple at first: Varric had been trying to find a buyer for Bartrand’s mansion in Hightown for ages, and the one they _had_ found – a minor noble in Rivain who’d agreed to buy the place sight unseen – complained of strange happenings, eerie apparitions, unexplained breakages and whispers within the walls that put prospective tenants off. Ever the helper, Hawke had agreed to investigate what was going on, and asked Isabela to come with her. After all, as Varric said, Hawke was quite used to dealing with ‘weird shit’.

The first mistake Isabela had made was agreeing to go in the first place. The second was not using the privy before she went.

In fact, as far as Isabela was concerned, the only good thing about this entire mission was getting to admire her dark-haired girlfriend’s arse as they ascended the stairs in front of the mansion, because there was absolutely nothing good nor fun about being inside of it. They hadn’t even been in the mansion ten minutes and Isabela had already been confronted with one levitating urn – and tried to brush off her jitters with a joke about how it must be a good trick at parties – and then another urn that had seemed to have been hurled at her by an invisible hand; _that_ one had narrowly avoided hitting her head and smashed to pieces against the wall behind her.

‘I thought this wouldn’t be as bad as the darkened caves we’ve been traipsing through all these years,’ was all Hawke remarked; she was much quieter than she usually was, and Isabela knew her lover well enough to recognise it as a sign of how spooked she was. ‘Clearly I was wrong.’

‘We’re getting closer,’ Varric said. ‘I can feel it.’

‘And you’re still convinced,’ Isabela asked, ‘that all this has been caused by a relic Bartrand might have brought back from the Deep Roads?’ She jumped as a lone lit candle detached itself from the chandelier it was on, and floated down in front of them.

It was too much. Exasperated, Isabela turned to shout at it, not caring anymore how foolish she would look.

‘We get it already! House haunted. You can stop now!’

As if it had heard her, the candle floated back to its original position, and carried on burning brightly as if nothing had happened. This did not help.

Hawke looked as if she had been about to reach for her bow and arrow; but, on the candle’s retreat, reached for Isabela’s hand instead. Isabela smiled back at her, and took it. Hawke was the sort of woman who continuously searched for physical contact, and in these sort of circumstances, Isabela heartily welcomed it. Somehow, things didn’t seem quite so scary when she was holding Hawke’s hand.

Somehow, Isabela felt she could take on the world when she was holding Hawke’s hand. The biggest mistake she’d made was not trusting Hawke’s love all those years ago, leaving her lover in the immediate wake of the Arishok battle because she didn’t think she deserved it. Because… because she was who she was.

Because she was ashamed.

Because she was _afraid_.

In a way, perhaps it was nice to be afraid for a different reason entirely.

Even if that reason eventually turned out to be a huge red-lyrium-powered angry golem spirit that their party would be forced to fight.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are most welcome - or come say hello at [hollyand-writes.tumblr.com](http://hollyand-writes.tumblr.com)!


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